Improvement in the construction of ordnance



W. OSTRANDER, I. D. REEDER 8: J. GORDUAN.

CONSTRUCTION OF ORDNANGE.

No; 34,977. Patented Apr. 15, 1862.

x Q a 4 1 crence making a part of this specification, in which- Figure I is a side elevation, partly in layers until's UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

wn. os'rnmbnn, Isaac n. masons, nil) .rosnrn commas, or BROOKLYN,

- new YORK.

IMPROVEMENT in THE consraucrion os-onnuaucs.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No- 84371. dated April 15, 133 2.

To all whom it may" :Beitknown that we,WILLIAIC Osraannsn,

Issisc D. BEEDEB, and Jo'snrn Commas,

'in the Construction of Cannon; andwe do hereby declare that the i'ollowing is aiuli,

clear, and.exaet description of the same, refbeing made to the annexed drawings,

tion, to exhibit interior construction: Fig. II is a transverse section on the lines a: of Fig. I, and similar letters indicate similarparts throughout the figures. Our improvement consists in constructing a cannon by making, first, a tube of metal to constitute the bore, then winding this-tube with wire,and,atter aflixin' a suitable breech- -piece, to cast bras's'or ot er suitable metal around the wire and the breech-piece, thus giving'to the exterior the desired contour and binding the parts-firmly together.. 'A cannonthus constructed may have the'greatest possible strength, due to the .weight of metal employed, since, as is wellknown, the full tensile strength of metal can be in the form of wire more equally distributed throughout the gun than in the form either of acasting or a hammered mass.

The manner in which we refer to carry out our invention is to make t e tube for the bore-0t a skelp of steel the abutting edges of which are to have ail-joint This'skelp- (shown at a) has a flange turned up at the breeohend, as at b, and a collar near the muzzle,-asseen at c. A piece of iron or other suitable metal, d, is t on inserted, being-of proper form for a breech, and being also .so she d that a portion ct it within the outline of te finished cannon will ,be so'mnch smaller than .the bore that the metal to be cast around shall partially inclose it to hold it in place. A close-fitting mandrel is now to beinserted into the tube as far as the breech,'and the tubeis then to be tightly wound with a continuous vii-0,0, from the flange hip the collar c, oontinuin the winding'in'snccessive ckness is obtained suflicient to rywist the bursting pressure. This thickness will of course vary at diflerentpoints in well,

the length of the gun more layers being necessary near the breec than at the muzzle, as shown. The whole is now to be placed as if it were a core, in a proper mold, and a covering of gun-metal or'iron, f, is-tobecast around and upon it. It will be seen that the tube a extends entirely through to the face of the gun and forms part of that face. while the collar 0 is set back a little, so that the cover- .ingemetal may at that part. come close to the tu The breech piece d need -,not, extend necessarily through the gun, but may be entirely .inclosed, the knob of the cascabel being then formed of the covering metal.

In casting on the outer metal some diih culty will arise from the presence of air be.- tween and among the coils of wire, and cansingby its expansion, when heated by the melted metal honey-comb spots in the casting, To obviate this we fill the spaces between the wires with some substance which will displace the air, but will not be disturbed by the heat. A preparation of the silicate of soda mixed-with plumbago eiiects this very and should be applied as the wire is being wound on, so-.as to fill all the spaces.

When the casting has cooled sufliciently, the

mandrel may be rawn out and the bore polished, if necefiary or aided, the outside fin-.

.ished up, and the vent drilled. If greater strength is,required.longitudinally than is atforded by the above construction, it may be obtainedby the employment in. addition of rods or bars running lengthwise, over the coil of wire and closing the ends at the breech over the breech-piece; or the tube may. be' extended out and closed down over the breechpiece.

We claim-- I Constructing-a cannon by winding wire around stubs which has a breech-piece insorted, and binding the whole together-by casting metal upon t, in the manner and for the-purposes substantially as set forth.

WILLIAM OS'I'RANDER. ISAAC D. BEEDER. JOSEPH OOBDUAN.

Witnesses:

J. I. Pmssos, B. H. Human. 

